Inspired by another post.
Quick sources.
According to Google, a single search requires about 0.0003 kWh of energy.
https://www.rwdigital.ca/blog/how-much-energy-do-google-search-and-chatgpt-use/
Each ChatGPT query consumes an estimated 2.9 Wh of electricity…
Edit: I’m an idiot for not even considering conversions. I simply pasted the numbers from the sources. Apologies.
0.0003 kWh is 0.3 Wh, and 2.9 Wh is 0.0029 kWh.
I think the regular search is effectively one-tenth a chatgpt prompt.
…according to a simple calculator, and a lot of commenters who’ve now accidentally made this funnier.
I’m not an electrician.
Okay, after some more rabbling, here’s some edits. Take your pick:
I simply copied from the sources, not thinking at all. I’ve added context to the edit per everyone’s remarks. It’s about a tenth.
But you raise an interesting question.
A quick search suggests ChatGPT gets 2.5 billion prompts a day. I wouldn’t presume this is a one-to-one scale. How many Google searches result in more searches as the person is trying to refine to figure out what they’re looking for or not finding it? Additionally, how prompts into ChatGPT have further prompts for refinement?
I could see a case when ChatGPT gives quick results that take one prompt whereas someone unsuccessfully googling might make 10 searches.
Does it net out? Who knows. There’s also innumerable other factors at play. What we CAN know is that energy use has skyrocketed recently, whereas Googles been around for decades.